Exploring Diaspora Dreams and Everyday Life

The online Rylands Lunchtime Seminar Series highlights the breadth and quality of our unique Special Collections and showcases world-class collections-based research activities. It brings together experts from the University of Manchester Library and University of Manchester academics working closely with the special collections held in the Library.

Exploring Diaspora Dreams and Everyday Life in the Ahmed Iqbal Ullah RACE Centre Education Trust Archive

This session will give an overview of the rich and nationally recognised archives held at the Ahmed Iqbal Ullah RACE Centre. We will explore the value of community-generated archives and how they can give often-ignored or unheard communities a powerful archival presence and voice. Professor Sadiah Qureshi will discuss the value of archives like these from her perspective as an academic and historian researching the everyday lives of South Asian diaspora communities in the UK.

With Sadiah Qureshi, Professor and Chair in Modern British History at the University of Manchester, Maya Sharma, Head of the Ahmed Iqbal Ullah RACE Centre and Education Trust and Antonia Canal, Collections and Engagement Officer at the Ahmed Iqbal Ullah RACE Centre and Education Trust

Maya Sharma is Head of the Ahmed Iqbal Ullah RACE Centre and Education Trust, a unique Global Majority-focused open-access library and archive. Maya has worked in heritage, higher education and community sectors over the past 30 years. She is a strong advocate for anti-racist and anti-discriminatory practice, particularly building anti-racist cultural organisations.

Sadiah Qureshi holds a Chair in Modern British History at the University of Manchester. Her latest book Vanished: An Unnatural History of Extinction (Allen Lane, 2025) explores the entangled histories of extinction, empire, and genocide in the making of the modern world. She is starting a new project on the South Asian British diaspora.

Antonia Canal is Collections and Engagement Officer at the Ahmed Iqbal Ullah RACE Centre and Education Trust. For over 10 years, Antonia has led community-focussed heritage projects. She has worked with the Portico Library, Association of Independent Museums, People’s History Museum, Museums Association and the National Lottery Heritage Fund.